Current collecting means for toy vehicles



April 21, 1953 J. L. BoNANNo 2,536,087

CURRENT COLLECTING MEANS FOR TOY VEHICLES Filed Oct. 15, 1949 INVENTOR. ./bifPf/ 50mm/v0 A TTORNE Y Patented Apr. 21, 1953 l rintensi n CURRENT` COLLECTING MEANS` Fon Tor t '"f*-VEHICLES 'Y 1 i t, .joseph Il. lonanllo,` Madisonn N. J., assignor toi The LioneliCol-poration, New York, N. Y., a. cor- N UNITED -sTArss PATENT ori-ics fi poration or New York t October 15, 1949, Serial No. 121,496 w `Application f i 1l Claims. (C1. lei- 49) n f n t t l 2 The present invention relates to current col- The right housing part 20 has a vertical side lecting means for toy vehicles and is more Aparwall 22, `bottom wall 24, `front wall 25 and rear ticularly directed toward current collecting wall 26, all terminating in arcommon plane. The means for toy locomotives. Toy locomotives used bottom wall 24 is recessed as indicated at 21,2] on the usual three-rail toy railroadr track are and` centrally of these recesses carries lugs 28, `28. ordinarily provided with driving wheels carried Slightly higher `up the side wall 22 are openings on the track rails and supporting the locomotive 29, 29 for the axle shafts. Adjacent the holes `througltl axles and with current collecting devices 29, 29` are forwardly extending lugs 3l, 3| and cooperable with a central, third or` power rail. `intermediate these lugs is another forwardly ex- 'I'he motor, headlight and other accessories carl0 tending lug 32. Above and to the side ofzthe lug ried on the locomotive are connected between the `32 are two forwardly extending lugs 33, a3.

third rail current collector and the axles to come t The recesses 2l, 2,7 and lugs 28, 28 are` adapted plete the circuit. to receive` current collecting rollers 34, 34. The The present invention contemplates improverollers are in` the form of jstriDS f Sheet metal ments in the current collectors cooperable with l bent to tubular shape.. COhdliCtihg strapfil bears the third rail as Well as current collectors co- 0n these rollers and 1She1d in place br the lug operable with the axles, and a unitary construc- 32 and e I'ib 325 below the lng 32 entering notch tion suitable for collecting current from the 35'- The Strip 35 is IeSllent and yields when power and return ra,i1s `the I'OllBI'S 3,112,011 the third rail. The 11016529 According to the present invention, `the toy `receive the wheel axles 36,35.A A resilient convehicle is provided with a housing made of `-two @noting ,Strip 3l beels on the aXleS 35, 36 and eX- insulated parts adapted to be secured together, tende between the uploel face 0f lug 32 and the and this housing encloses all the electrical parts loweijfeees Of lllgsm33, 33, S0 that current `can be of the vehicle and carries currentcollecting deoeifed frontline power and wheel `hearing rails vices whereby current can be` received from the into the locomotive housing. Whenthe axles are axles and from the power rail. The conducting ont, t"he Contact Strip 3l bears on t0n Of lugs 3|.

,parts are all housed between and retained in place It has a bent extension 53 held back by a filter by tno insulating housing parts forming the strip Bland itsnds are tent up as indicated at vehicle. Their assembly is readily accomplished 3l to` faolltate inserting the axles. The conwithout the use 0f 1;@015, v l 2 30 ducting strips 35 and 31 are connected to a load Other and further objects of the invention suon es motol'ill'ot appear as the description progresses' The left housing part 2l of similar congura- `The accompanying drawings show, for spurtlon has recesses 85 to meet dowel-like pins 88 poses of illustrating the present invention, one extending forwardly from the housing part 20. embodiment in which the invention may `take -The housing part 2|is recessed as indicated at form, it being understood that the drawings are 3l 8l and Provided with lugs 33 Opposite the illustrative of the invention rather than limiting reCeSSeS 2l enel lugs 23 of the housing part 20 so the Same, as to keep the contact rollers 3|!v in place. It has In the accompanying drawings: efXle openings 99 Opposite aXle Openings 23. It

Figure l is a side elevational view showing one 40 has e. lng 9| opposite t0 but higher than 111g 32 oi the housing pai-ts of tlio toy locomotive with and lob 9V opposte the rib 32 to hold the Strips all the conducting elements in place for collecting 35 and o? in Dlae- The housing parts :arewsecurrent, this View being taken in thedirection ooroooogotnel' |93 Spring GlPSnOt sliOwIl- 1 of the arrow of Fig, 2; The axles carry wheels |00 adapted to support Figure 2 is a horizontal view taken on the line 45 the locomotive on the 'Greek Iails |0| and |02. 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing both of the housing parts When so placed on the rails, the contact rollers in position, with the current collecting devices 34 are on power rail |03 and are lifted up as shown therebetween; and in Figure 4 to bend the ends of spring 35. This Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views on nelnes goed Contact with the third rail and as the lines 3 3 and 4 4, respectively, of Fig. 1. 50 the rollers have freedom of movement in all di- '.l'he locomotive propulsion unit P has a housing IeotiOnS, they have Very long life. The I'Oller composed of two plastic moldings designated gentype third rail contacts are suitable for use on erally as 20 for the right housing and 2| for the Various tOY railroad vehicles. left housing. These housings are of generally The complete locomotive with which the presrectangular shape. ent current collectors are more especially adapted to be used is shown in co-pending application, Serial No. 121,494 led concurrently herewith.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to be understood that the particular form' shown is but one of `thesey forms, and various modiiications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy railroad vehicle, a current collector for use with the power rail of a toy railroad track, comprising a hollow cylindrical sheet metal roller, a horizontally extending support of smaller size than lthe inner diameter of the roller and projecting into the roller, side members limiting sidewise movement of the roller, and a conducting leaf spring bearing on the top of the roller.

2. A current collector for a toy railroad vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roller is in the form of a strip of sheet metal rolled to cylindrical form.

3. A current collector for a toy railroad vehicle as claimed in claim l, wherein the horizontal support and the side members are embodied in two inwardly facing insulating housing members, and the xed end of the spring is interlocked between the housing members.

4. A current collector for a toy railroad vehicle comprising a horizontal tubular contact, a contact support including side members having extensions protruding into the tube, the side members being close to the ends of the tube to keep it positioned along its axis, the extensions being smaller than the inside diameter of the tube so that the tube may move up and down, and being spaced above the lower faces of the members such that the tube in its lower position is exposed, and a contact spring bearing on the upper surface of the tubular contact to hold it down against the top of the extensions 'and yield when the tubular contact is moved upwardly.

5. A current collector for a toy railroad vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lower faces of the extensions are above the lower faces of the side members Ato allow the tubular contact to be received between the side members.

6. A toy vehicle having a housing vcomprising two insulating parts facing one another, the

y housing having a bottom Wall with two downwardly opening passages intersected by the joint between the housing parts and interruptedby horizontal lugs, a tubular contact roller received in each passage and held against removal by the lugs, the lugs being smaller than the tubular contacts so that the rollers may have limited up and down movement, and housing carried spring means bearing on the top of each contact roller to hold it down against the lugs.

7; A toy vehicle having a housing comprising two insulating parts facing one another, the

housing having a bottom wall with two downwardly opening passages intersected by the joint between `the housing parts and interrupted by horizontal lugs, a tubular contact roller received in each passage and held against removal by the lugs, the lugs being smaller than the tubular contacts so that v`the rollers may have limited up and down movement,and a leaf spring having ends bearing on the top of the contacts and a central portion interlocked between the housing parts against upward, endwise, or lateral movement.

` 8. A current collector for a toy railroad vehicle, comprising a contact roller in the form of a horizontal tube, supporting members lateral of the tube spaced slightly more than the length V of the tube and having lugs entering the tube, the

lugs being of smaller vertical depth and length than the inside diameter of the tube, whereby the roller is free for rolling and for limited movement up and down, forward and back and for tilting, and a spring bearing on the roller'to urge it downwardly against the lugs.

9; In a toy vehicle, two insulating housing parts on opposite sides ofa median vertical plane lengthwise of the vehicle, facing one Vanother' and having opposed cavities to form contact receiving spaces, opposed axle openings, and opposed contact roller receiving recesses in the bottom wall opening into the contact receiving cavities to form vertical passages, the recesses having lugs projecting toward one another and partly interrupting the passages, axles extending through the axle openings, a resilient contact strip traversing the cavities, held in place by engagement with the housing parts and bearing on the axles, a second resilient contact strip traversing the cavities, held in place by engagement with the housing parts and terminating adjacent the lugs, and contact rollers projecting downwardly through the passages, the rollers being carried on the lugs and pressed downwardly by the second contact strip.

10. A toy electric railroad vehicle having a body formed of two insulating housing parts provided with aligned axle'openings and opposed cavities to form contact receiving spaces, wheel References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED 4STATES PATENTS Name Date Forchheimer June 24, 1924 Number 

